I’ve got three words: Galaxy vs Dynamo post-game analysis

And those words are: Undefeated in three!

With the take-down of the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Galaxy are now 3-0 and only the third team in MLS history to start with three straight wins. (EDIT: That should read “three straight shut-out wins”. The 2007 NYRB hold the record with four. Coached by… Bruce Arena.) The team has also posted three straight shut outs and Edson Buddle has five goals in three games. (Thanks to the asstastic new website that MLS has foisted upon us I can’t tell you if he’s the league leader or not – there are no team or player stats available anywhere on the site – but I suspect he is.)

I have to say that the game itself was very difficult to watch. With the Dynamo missing two of last year’s best starting midfielders in Ricardo Clark (Germany) and Stuart Holden (England) and fielding an attack made up of second-stringers (having your DP as a second stringer is a head-scratcher if there ever was one), and the Galaxy going with their youth movement in the middle of the smallest and narrowest park in MLS, the game never settled down into any rhythm whatsoever. Three passes and a restart was the norm, with perhaps an occasional foul call to break up the monotony.

It was hardly surprising then that the two goals for the visitors came more or less on long passes on restarts or counters. Both were goals of skill and striker’s audacity coupled with Dynamo defensive lapses. On the first one, Buddle ran down a clearance from the back line that Mike Chabala and Eddie Robinson both misplayed, took a brilliant first touch, and then caught Pat Onstad cheating to cover the back post to put one near post on what had looked to be an impossible angle. I know Marco Pappa hit a corker in the Fire-Earthquakes game, but Buddle gets my vote for goal of the week.

The second goal was the result of some actual passing that followed a long ball in. Sean Franklin, playing on the right side of midfield, where he’s still a bit uncomfortable, put a nice cross into to Mike Magee on the right side of the 6 yard box who tried to get it over Onstad. Onstad blocked it, but Franklin streaked in and crossed the ball right into the middle where Buddle had made a run. Onstad lunged for the cross and missed and Buddle went almost parallel to the ground to volley the ball into the open net. Both goals were superb.

It was also no surprise that the Galaxy’s backline of Dunivant, Gonzalez, Leonardo, and DeLaGarza was able to keep the Dynamo attack at bay. Part of that was the shaky forward tandem of Dominic Oduro and Luis Landin, who just aren’t ready to start in MLS yet. But Houston’s front line is injury riddled so they do what they can. The other part was that the Galaxy boasts one of the best defenses in the league, especially when you put a Chris Birchall or Dema Kovalenko in front of the backline and Donovan Ricketts behind it. Just as they demonstrated last year, this defense is going to make it hard for anyone to get good looks. True, the Galaxy have caught their first three opponents on days when they showed up with weak attacks (see New England’s 4-1 dismantling of Toronto from yesterday – what a difference a Shalrie Joseph makes). But there’s also no reason to expect last year’s goals allowed total of 31 to be an outlier. 10% of the games have been played and they’ve yet to give up a goal. RSL will be the first true test of this unit’s mettle.

So with Edson Buddle bascially burning a hole in the back of the net and the defense repelling all comers, what to make of the midfield? This is clearly going to be Bruce’s biggest work in progress this year. There’s a lot of talent there, but putting it together to get the best from the parts is going to be a challenge until something gels. For example, I wasn’t really loving Sean Franklin on the right last night, but his crosses got better as the night wore on and he certainly has the workrate you need to be a starting winger in MLS. And Mike Magee has a decent left foot but rarely puts his stamp on a game. And Juninho is still trying to figure out how to connect those passes in the final third that can spring Landon Donovan or put Buddle through. All these guys have potential and you can see it in flashes, but they still have yet to really put all the pieces together in a performance that controls a game (outside of the New England game where Steve Nicol barely put a team on the field).

I think the midfield could be really solid by the middle of the season if everyone learns how to play together, especially since you’ve got Alex Cazumba, Eddie Lewis, Chris Klein, Dema Kovalenko, Michael Stephens, and some English guy all on the bench or rehabbing. And I say all this being happier with Landon playing the withdrawn forward role rather than his left wing spot. I think he finds the game better in MLS when he can roam the park, which is more easily accomplished from the forward spot than a wing midfield spot. This will be especially true if he and Juninho can ever develop a rapport. But last night’s game was really not a good indicator of where anyone was since it was so choppy and unsettled.

My only other area of concern three games in is the depth at forward. I would dearly love another proven goal scorer who can play with his feet. I love Alan Gordon as a person and a personality and he’s great in the air. But after that his quality drops off sharply. More than 20 minutes from him and I get antsy. But he’s the team’s third leading scorer amongst active players. Crazy, right? Just want one more weapon off the bench, that’s all I’m asking for.

Anyway, overall, this was a solid performance from a team that is still working into form. You can’t sneer at three straight wins to start the season especially since stockpiling points now could make all the difference at the end. Real Salt Lake will provide the stoutest test yet of the Galaxy and should be fantastic game to watch.

Man of the Match: Edson Buddle
Enigma of the Match: Landon Donovan

What about you guys? Who was your man of the match? What did you see that I missed? Where did I get it wrong? Was there stuff that you agreed with? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

What others are saying:

ESPN Game Recap
LA Soccer News.com game recap
Philly Soccer News.com MLS wrap-up
Jose de Jesus Ortiz at the Houston Chronicle
Scott French blogging at ESPN
Jo-Ryan Salazar at The Bleacher Report with a pre-game preview that centers on Edson Buddle. Quick easy fun read.
AP at the LA Daily News
MLSSoccer.com game recap
Luis Bueno at MLSSoccer.com with the Galaxy perspective
Luis Bueno at MLSSoccer.com with the Dynamo perspective

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Category: 2010 Season, Player News